FDLE investigating Lee County elections website security breach

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now investigating after one man allegedly hacked in to the Lee County’s Supervisor of Elections website.

Dan Sinclair, who is running for Supervisor of Elections, says his friend, David Levin, accidentally hacked into the website. Sinclair and Levin posted a video online showing the hack and say they presented the information to current Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington. Sinclair said his friend, Dave Levin, was trying to show how a good website should be secure then accidentally hacked into the Supervisor of Elections site.

Levin works for a cyber security company and is the former campaign manager for April Freeman. He said he is bracing for possible criminal charges.

“I had a feeling it was extralegal – that perhaps the laws haven’t caught up with the technology,” Levin said.

No voter information was comprised, according to Lee County Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington. She said Levin hacked into an old server and is working with Sinclair to make her look bad before elections.

“Our system is safe,” Harrington said. “The server had no pertinent information, not anything of any value.”

But in a video posted online, Levin shows how he was able to obtain Harrington’s login information. Sinclair said the current website is flawed.

“They had big gaping holes on the internet that anybody could’ve gotten in,” Sinclair said.

A local defense attorney said Levin could be charged with a felony.

“This is absolutely serious,” the lawyer said. “It’s starts off as a third-degree felony in the state of Florida and there are enhancements there that can raise it all the way to a first-degree felony.”

Neither Levin nor Sinclair have been charged with a crime. They said they gave Harrington a report with their findings. FDLE is still investigating.